2012 AL Central Catch-All thread

[flavum]

Mariners up 3-0 after 1 in Detroit, looking to finish the sweep.

 

Sox and Tigers both started 10-8. I'd take our 10-8 over their's.

[southsider2k5]

Sox and Tigers both started 10-8. I'd take our 10-8 over their's.

 

Its odd. We haven't had many guys with normal/ok starts. It feels like they have either been awful, or incredible, and no real in between.

[flavum]

Tigers released Brandon Inge.

[southsider2k5]

Tigers released Brandon Inge.

 

Now that would be an interesting pick up for us. Bring him in as the back up 3B, send Escobar to AAA, and if Morel flounders into the summer, let Inge have the job. at very least the guy would be a really nice utility guy at a lot of positions, plus a third catcher, which would let Robin use Flowers more without worrying about having a back up for AJ.

[MEANS]

I was thinking the same thing

[Steve9347]

Now that would be an interesting pick up for us. Bring him in as the back up 3B, send Escobar to AAA, and if Morel flounders into the summer, let Inge have the job. at very least the guy would be a really nice utility guy at a lot of positions, plus a third catcher, which would let Robin use Flowers more without worrying about having a back up for AJ.

Over the past two seasons Brandon Inge has made Brent Morel look like Alex Rodriguez.

[southsider2k5]

Over the past two seasons Brandon Inge has made Brent Morel look like Alex Rodriguez.

 

The sad thing is that their OPS's aren't that far apart this year. The big thing is Inge is a way better fielder than Morel, and being a third catcher could really free up some chances for Flowers to do things like DH and play 1B for some extra ABs.

[Steve9347]

The sad thing is that their OPS's aren't that far apart this year. The big thing is Inge is a way better fielder than Morel, and being a third catcher could really free up some chances for Flowers to do things like DH and play 1B for some extra ABs.

He hasn't played catcher since 2008.

[Balta1701]

He hasn't played catcher since 2008.

He'd still be an option if you had Tyler at DH and AJ got hurt or something like that. For 1 game.

[caulfield12]

Heck, make Inge the starting catcher for 2013 at this point.

 

Hawk would love it, and yeah, the fans have really turned on him in DET.

 

He made a huge out with runners on 2nd and 3rd and the chance to tie or take the lead and he K'ed. That must have been the last straw for him with the Tiggers.

 

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

Can baseball survive in Cleveland?

 

They had only 9,229 yesterday against the Royals.

 

Their average attendance so far this season is only 15,002.

 

To put that in perspective, the three teams immediately ahead of them (SEA/OAK/SOX) are all drawing 5,500-6,000 more fans per game.

 

The White Sox slipped under 21K, at 20,970, still holding onto 27th place.

 

 

 

 

[SoxFan1]

For the love of God, NO to Brandon Inge. I recall people trying to convince me that Tigers fans liked him and that he was a fan favorite and that he was good. He's awful. They hate him. They have for a while now. There was even a blog made called Ab®andon Inge.

[caulfield12]

Brandon Inge has his sons' names tattooed on his forearms. That's nice, but it would have been fitting if he went with two other people he knows well.

 

On his left arm: BRANDON INGE.

 

And on his right: BRANDON INGE.

 

One would be for Inge the ballplayer. And the other would be for Inge the public figure.

 

The Tigers released Inge the ballplayer Thursday afternoon, and they had the simplest and best reason: They have (at least) 25 better players in their system.

 

• Related: Inge released after Tigers loss Thursday

 

Since the start of the 2011 season, Inge has hit .190, with a .255 on-base percentage and .284 slugging percentage. How awful is that? Well, last season batters went .192/.242/.313 against Justin Verlander. Inge turned every pitcher in the major leagues into Justin Verlander.

 

As a baseball story, this isn't even a story. It's a sentence: "The Tigers released a .190 hitter Thursday."

 

But as the ballplayer leaves, he takes the public figure with him. And that is where this gets interesting -- not controversial, but interesting.

 

Inge is both beloved and hated -- and hated largely because he is beloved. He has played here since 2001, expressed his love for Detroit repeatedly, been accessible to the media and active with charities. He is also 5-feet-11, with a baby face, and he lost his position three times when the Tigers brought in superstars Pudge Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. That made him a lovable underdog in a city that loves underdogs.

 

From 2004 to 2006, Inge was an average major league hitter and above-average third baseman. After that he was sometimes decent, sometimes almost-decent and often injured. He had a normal career for a player of his caliber: rough start, pretty good peak in his late 20s, then a decline. The difference with Inge is that he did it all in one city. Almost all players of his ability play for several teams. They aren't loved or hated. They are just there, and then way over there, and then out there.

 

Inge's fans and haters came to define him -- in the past year or two, it was hard to think about Inge without thinking about all that love and loathing. But to the Tigers, he was still a ballplayer. They gave him a two-year, $11.5-million contract after the 2010 season, because they didn't have other options and because they mistakenly thought he was still a starting third baseman.

 

Last year, as he struggled to hit the fastball, and also the curveball, slider and change-up, the Tigers could have released him. But this is where the public figure superseded the ballplayer: Inge was willing to go to Triple-A Toledo and work his way back to Detroit, instead of taking his guaranteed money and leaving.

 

When he came back, he went .278/.355/.444 the rest of the way. Admit it, haters: Those are solid major league numbers. The Tigers wanted to believe Inge, who turns 35 next month, would be that player in 2012. He obviously is not.

 

And so the Tigers had to release him. They should have done it in spring training. If the player has anything left (and I'm very skeptical), the burden from being a public figure here sapped him of it. Inge seemed frustrated, confused and desperate. He knew that his Tigers career could end any day, and that so many fans wanted it to end.

 

The fans wanted to get rid of the ballplayer, and they had very good reasons. He was hurting the team. Some fans still clung to the public figure, and let it cloud their view of the ballplayer. And somewhere in there was the man, Charles Brandon Inge, whose professional career was crumbling in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

 

It was easy for the Tigers to let go of Inge. It will be a lot harder for Inge to let go of the Tigers.

Contact Michael Rosenberg: 313-222-6052 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter @rosenberg_mike or on facebook.com/michaelrosenbergwriter.

 

 

[Balta1701]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

Can baseball survive in Cleveland?

A baseball team right now can sustain probably >$50 million in payroll based solely on revenue sharing dollars. So the answer is yes, and stop asking.

 

Also, please make more of an effort to include a hyperlink if you're going to excerpt an entire article like you just did, and preferably stop excerpting entire articles and just take readable selections, as technically it is a violation of copyright law, you're just counting on the copyright owner to not enforce those standards.

[LittleHurt05]

A "highly intoxicated" Delmon Young arrested in Manhattan after hotel brawl

 

 

Detroit Tigers slugger Delmon Young was arrested early this morning after he allegedly assaulted a man in front of a Midtown hotel, police sources told The Post.

 

Cops were called to the hotel around 2:40 a.m. after Young, whose ballclub is in town to play the Yankees tonight, pushed the man to the ground, sources said.

 

Young, known for his powerhouse arm in the outfield, was "highly intoxicated," sources said, and had to be taken to the hospital to sober up before being moved to a police precinct.

 

The victim suffered scratches on his arm and was treated at the scene.

 

Young, who has had problems controlling his temper in the past, was charged with assault in the third degree and is in custody while awaiting arraignment.

 

Young was first drafted overall into the Majors in 2003. He played for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2006 before being traded to the Minnesota Twins prior to the 2008 season.

 

Young stayed with the Twins until last season where he was traded to the Detroit Tigers on August 15.

 

In his first at-bat in the playoffs as a Tiger, he hit a homerun off CC Sabathia. Before joining the majors, controversy hit Young while playing for the Triple-A Durham Bulls. During a game against the Pawtucket Red Sox, he threw a bat at an umpire.

 

Young has struggled at the plate so far this season, hitting a mere .242, with 1 homer and 5 RBI.

 

 

 

[iamshack]

Known for his powerhouse arm in the outfield?

[caulfield12]

A "highly intoxicated" Delmon Young arrested in Manhattan after hotel brawl

 

 

That powerhouse arm has always been more hype than reality.

 

Although this incident will remind everyone of the problems with Miguel Cabrera at the end of 2010.

 

The Tigers' announcers have said numerous times their team looks listless and basically unmotivated. Maybe they started believing their pre-season press clippings and thought with the rest of the AL Central down that there was an unabated path directly to the World Series and they just had to show up and put their uniforms on and the competition would cower in front of them.

 

 

[LittleHurt05]

It gets better, Delmon now being charged with a hate crime.

 

Update, 10:20 a.m.: The Free Press reports that Young will be charged with aggravated harassment hate crime. Says an NYPD detective, "Basically, there was an incident at the hotel (and) some anti-Semitic remarks."

[kageman129]

That powerhouse arm has always been more hype than reality.

 

Although this incident will remind everyone of the problems with Miguel Cabrera at the end of 2010.

 

The Tigers' announcers have said numerous times their team looks listless and basically unmotivated. Maybe they started believing their pre-season press clippings and thought with the rest of the AL Central down that there was an unabated path directly to the World Series and they just had to show up and put their uniforms on and the competition would cower in front of them.

 

To be honest, it kind of reminds me of 2008 when the Tigers traded for Cabrera. Everyone pegged the Tigers as 2008 AL Central Champs, and they finished in 4th I think?

 

I feel like they make a big move and then just think it'll all fall into place, when in reality, you actually have to play the games. I think they'll still be tough, but its not going to be as easy to win the Central as many "experts" think.

[Balta1701]

It gets better, Delmon now being charged with a hate crime.

Now that's solid.

[Kyyle23]

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that tourists from Chicago were involved

[shakes]

It gets better, Delmon now being charged with a hate crime.

 

If those charges stick, it will be interesting to see what the commissioners office will do. That has to be the first hate crime I remember a MLB player being charged with. I would say that he can afford a legal team to get the charges reduced, but we have seen that the NY prosecuters don't care if you are a pro athlete.

 

Let's hope the victims are Sox fans and they try and stick it to him.

 

Stay classy Delmon.

[Balta1701]

If those charges stick, it will be interesting to see what the commissioners office will do. That has to be the first hate crime I remember a MLB player being charged with. I would say that he can afford a legal team to get the charges reduced, but we have seen that the NY prosecuters don't care if you are a pro athlete.

 

Let's hope the victims are Sox fans and they try and stick it to him.

 

Stay classy Delmon.

NY Has some harsh hate crime sentencing statutes. If I'm reading this right, then for a first time offender charged with assault and a hate crime, the minimum would be 3.5 years.

[sunofgold]

Let us hope that those Chicago tourist were cuBS fans. Getting the feeling that this isn't the Year of the Tiggs. Victor Martinez out, Al Al and Fister on DL, Young troubles, and Inge released!(Lol)

 

Clevelanders versus White Sox for the division. I will take my chances. Just beat up on AL Central and the National League (6 games agains cuBS) and play .500 against the rest of the AL (only 6-8 so far..close..). Easy, right...lol!

 

[southsider2k5]

Let us hope that those Chicago tourist were cuBS fans. Getting the feeling that this isn't the Year of the Tiggs. Victor Martinez out, Al Al and Fister on DL, Young troubles, and Inge released!(Lol)

 

Clevelanders versus White Sox for the division. I will take my chances. Just beat up on AL Central and the National League (6 games agains cuBS) and play .500 against the rest of the AL (only 6-8 so far..close..). Easy, right...lol!

 

I'm guessing if it was Sox fans, they would have said so, along with some footage of Ligue.

[caulfield12]

Story splashed all over the front page of Detroit Free Press. Not in line-up tonight. Is being classified as a misdemeanor at this point.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120427/SPOR...|text|FRONTPAGE

 

 

4th alcohol-related incident with a Tiger (had no idea about the Gerald Laird one in offseason, 2 were Cabrera)

http://www.freep.com/article/20120427/SPOR...-recent-history

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20120427/SPOR...nt-Delmon-Young

Tigers' statement with only mention being about the alcohol side of the situation and nothing about the hate crime element

 

Of course, they're also bringing back the past minor league incident with the umpire/bat-throwing as well.

 

 

 

At that time, they couldn't charge John Rocker with a hate crime because it wasn't yet covered by the Federal statutes, right?

 

For his anti-gay, homophobic comments? He was basically just ostracized and derided out of the game...that and injuries took his pitching ability away.

Edited April 27, 2012 by caulfield12